


A Different Kind Of Akumanette Fic: LoganLight's "Scarlet Fever"

by Keyseeker



Series: Fanfic Analyses [7]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Analysis, Gen, I recommend finishing it before reading this, Meta, Spoilers for all of Scarlet Fever, fanfic analysis, not fanfiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-12 18:47:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28890087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keyseeker/pseuds/Keyseeker
Summary: I really enjoyed "Scarlet Fever", from how well it handles the action scenes (which are usually not emphasized much in this fandom), to how it explores and develops its characters, to its subtle (and not-so-subtle) commentary on many salt tropes and accusations which are thrown around in the fandom nowadays.Analysis 1: ActionAnalysis 2: Salt FightingAnalysis 3: Luka
Series: Fanfic Analyses [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1883209
Comments: 14
Kudos: 29





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Scarlet Fever](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20619779) by [LoganLight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoganLight/pseuds/LoganLight). 



Scarlet Fever has some of the best action sequences I’ve seen in any Miraculous Ladybug fanfiction, managing to juggle several characters at once while effectively conveying what’s going on, and doing so while keeping the plot rolling. Too often in media the action is separate from plot and character development, which can make it a slog. Not the case here.

A few things I noticed that help with that:

  1. The formatting.
  2. How conversation and introspection is interwoven with the fights
  3. How the fights themselves convey character information and growth.



First of all, the formatting. An often underappreciated aspect to storytelling, it’s extremely important in conveying the tale in an engaging way that helps the reader keep track of what’s going on. 

The sentences are simple and clear, giving the position and actions in small, manageable chunks, only a few lines at a time before giving a paragraph break, letting the reader picture what’s happened in those few sentences before moving on.

> Maneki-neko deflected Princess Justice's whip with a baton and slashed at her with the other. Marinette shifted slightly and Kagami's momentum carried her past the villain. But not before Princess Justice struck the hero in the ribs with her free hand.
> 
> Kagami flew out of striking distance as she caught her breath. Marinette's akumatized form packed a punch. But her whip had a limited, if ill-defined, range and-
> 
> Her cat ears twitched and she barely moved her head out of the way as a metallic blur sailed centimeters from Kagami's face. She tracked it's path and dodged as it came back around like a boomerang. (Chapter 5)

Take this passage, for instance. Each chunk is below 50 words, keeping them small and easy to digest. Yet each one effectively conveys what happened during that snapshot. 

In the first paragraph I can see Kagami with her split baton knocking Princess Justice’s whip out of the way with one hand while attacking with the other, can see Princess Justice moving to the side so Kagami’s attack misses, see Princess Justice striking her with the other fist. 

A lot takes place in a short amount of time, things that would be far easier to understand and keep track of through a visual medium. Since that is not available, the small chunks with empty space are the next best substitute. The empty spaces create a “pause” of sorts for the reader to picture what happened in that chunk before moving onto the next piece of action, gradually piecing together the whole story.

Of course if that was the entirety of the action it’d get boring pretty quickly. You can picture the fight, sure, but it doesn’t mean much if no character information is conveyed during them, especially if it goes on for a long time.

Which is why the action never continues unabated for too long without conveying character or plot information.

> "What of Papillon's Judgment!" Maneki-neko demanded as they sped towards the Seine. She held tight to the struggling villain as she attempted to get through to Marinette. "Will you absolve him of his crimes against Paris! Against your friends!"
> 
> "What friends!?" Princess Justice roared. She opened her bag and spun. The dust engulfed them, entering Kagami's eyes and distracting her long enough for the villain to break free.
> 
> Princess Justice struck at the hero, Maneki-neko barely deflecting her attacks. Every sentence punctuated by the crack of her whip. "They abandoned me! They chose that liar over me! They will all suffer like I have! They will all feel my pain! Every! Last! ONE!" (Chapter 5)

The action doesn’t stop while they’re talking, it’s intertwined together.

Take that first paragraph. Maneki-neko shouts at Princess Justice, trying desperately to impress upon her that this isn’t her, nor is this what she really wants, that it will just hurt the people she cares about and let the true culprit off - the opposite of justice.

The action lends urgency to Maneki-neko’s statements. They’re falling, Princess Justice desperately trying to break free of her hold, giving Kagami only those precious few seconds in which she can force Princess Justice to listen to her, to try to get through to her. It wouldn’t hit the same way if they were just standing on a rooftop shouting at each other, not making a move.

The next two paragraphs detailing Princess Justice’s response are also telling. Maneki-neko’s attempts to get through to her simply enrage her further, causing her to not only shout in retaliation, but to fight back harder, taking her anger out on Maneki-neko not just verbally, but physically, even though she’s not the one Princess Justice is actually pissed at. It really drives home the strength of Princess Justice’s feelings and convictions.

Which leads into the third point - how the action itself conveys character information.

Take one of Sabine’s fights with Princess Justice.

> Sabine deflected her daughter's strikes. She needed to get the akuma so Mister Bug could purify it. But Marinette, Princess Justice, kept flying away whenever she closed in. She needed a different approach. **"Wind Dragon!"**
> 
> The whirlwind surrounded Princess Justice once more. It's force far greater than last time. The Wind Dragon swirled with the force of a tornado.
> 
> Princess Justice grabbed her bag to keep it from flying off. She struggled to remain unmoved even as the Dragon pushed and pulled at her. The villain raised one arm straight up. Then she spun with the whirlwind. Faster and faster before shooting up and out of the trap. (Chapter 5)

Sabine doesn’t go for violence against Princess Justice, not directly, not when she hasn’t exhausted other options yet. 

Instead she deflects, tries to trap, uses the most non-harmful, least direct methods she can think of to detain Princess Justice, conveying her hesitance to harm even an akumatized version of her daughter not only through words, but through deeds.

Princess Justice, meanwhile, gets to show off that she still has some of her Marinette-intelligence, even when she isn’t thinking clearly, with the way she quickly figures out what she needs to do in order to free herself from Sabine’s maelstrom. 

All in all, these three techniques help explain why the action in Scarlet Fever is so good, as well as hopefully giving some small amount of guidance for replicating it.


	2. Salt Fighting

Scarlet Fever addresses and shuts down salt in many ways, showing where it might have a point, but fighting back when that point is taken too far.

This is usually done through two particular mouthpieces - Master Fu and Princess Justice, though other characters do bring up salt arguments and scenarios as well.

Master Fu’s main problems stem from not trusting Adrien enough, from having so little faith in him, treating him like an afterthought, a sidekick. He largely represents the Adrien salters who think he’s incompetent and unworthy of attention, that he’s useless without Ladybug and only exists to be her bodyguard - and that since that’s his role, he deserves no accolades for fulfilling it.

From the beginning, Master Fu has some misgivings about Adrien being Paris’s main protector, without Marinette around to help.

> Tikki floated forward to respond but Master Fu held out his palm to stop her. "The last time you used the Ladybug Miraculous you had her help!"
> 
> Adrien looked down. "I know... That's why we need her back." He looked up in determination as he put on the earrings. "If I had so much trouble with them then we can't just choose anyone else and we can't wait." (Chapter 2)

Master Fu is doubtful here that Adrien’s up to the task, since he wasn’t quite up to it last time. Which… fair. Adrien struggled in Reflekdoll, with Marinette ultimately telling him how to use his Lucky Charm.

But Adrien’s counterargument is also important. It shifts the conversation from the implication that “Adrien is incompetent as Ladybug” to “Marinette is the best at being Ladybug, but failing that, Adrien is the second best choice since he has some experience as Ladybug and a lot as a Miraculous Wielder more generally”. 

Credit to Master Fu, he doesn’t argue with Adrien on this front, doesn’t try to stop him. Adrien IS the best option available to wield the Ladybug Miraculous.

There’s some salt about Adrien being dumb and unable to use the Ladybug effectively, but Scarlet Fever shuts that down. Yes, it’s not as natural a fit for Adrien as it is for Marinette, but that’s because of how uniquely suited Marinette is for the Ladybug, not because Adrien is especially bad at using it - and when push comes to shove, he can use it very effectively.

That’s only the beginning of Master Fu’s doubt in Adrien and skepticism of his choices, however. He isn’t especially happy when Adrien brings Sabine back to their base.

> "He also said you were the one to ask about Marinette," Sabine continued.
> 
> Master Fu stumbled in shock and turned his head from Sabine to Adrien and back again. "The situation is... complicated."
> 
> "She deserves to know, Master," Adrien insisted, he'd wrapped the tarp around himself like a shawl, revealing his eyes but keeping his face covered.
> 
> "It is not the time!" Master Fu chastised. "With Papillon Écarlate gaining strength we must focus on- Are you listening to me?" (Chapter 3)

This passage parallels one of the arguments about Syren, one of the conflicts. In that episode, there was an undertone of Adrien having the right to know some of the Miraculous-related stuff, enough to know what was going on with Ladybug at least, and Fu delaying because it supposedly wasn’t the right time. It’s fitting to see that argument rear up again, especially since Adrien’s “right to know” stuff comes up so often, with how he’s left out of the loop so much and how that hurts.

Fu’s resistant to trusting Adrien’s instincts in general, not even wanting to let him decide who to give a Miraculous to, wanting to wait until Ladybug’s freed so SHE can decide. It takes an outside authority - the Lucky Charm - to persuade Fu, rather than having some faith in Adrien’s choices.

> "We can still free Ladybug," Master Fu insisted. "Then she can decide who to bestow with a Miraculous."
> 
> Adrien shook his head. "My Lucky Charm said I needed Kagami."
> 
> "... The Lucky Charm said to give Kagami the Black Cat?"
> 
> "... Yes! I don't know if it's to bring My Lady back to us or some other reason but I know that we need Kagami! And I know I need to hurry!"
> 
> Master Fu stared at his Chosen intently. "If that is our best course of action," he conceded. (Chapter 3)

The complete reliance on Marinette to fulfill the auxiliary duties of a Miraculous Wielder, the unwillingness to consider that Adrien may also be able to perform some of the same roles well, like choosing wielders, is something I’ve seen crop up in salt repeatedly.

It comes to a head with Sabine and Fu arguing, Fu claiming that Adrien isn’t good enough while Sabine counters, defending Adrien.

> "I had to train Marinette! I could not stop simply to scold Chat Noir every time he erred! Adrien has made too many mistakes!"
> 
> "Isn't it a teacher's job to correct his students? Maybe you should have trained Adrien too instead of expecting my daughter to do everything herself!" Sabine challenged.
> 
> "It was too dangerous!" Master Fu retorted. "Marinette proved herself! I couldn't let Adrien in when he did not earn it!
> 
> Sabine stared at this man older than her father and realized he knew nothing of adolescents. "... Trading his wellbeing for my daughter's may not make him trustworthy in your eyes," she stressed. "But it does in mine." (Chapter 6)

One of the salt arguments I’ve heard is that Adrien hasn’t “proven” himself worthy of having more information, more of a role in the process, of having the same sort of information and authority as Marinette. Him just fulfilling his role as a superhero, protecting Paris and protecting Ladybug so she can restore everything, even at the cost of his own life, isn’t seen as enough (and is sometimes even seen as him manipulating her somehow). 

But Sabine’s the voice of reason, fighting back. She doesn’t have the same sort of unreasonable, unmanageable expectations that Fu does - if she did Marinette would probably be joining Adrien in the “awful parent” club.

Instead, she holds Adrien to the same sort of standard that she would Marinette. He’s trying to help, has sacrificed himself again and again for Marinette’s sake, for Paris’s sake. He is a Hero of Paris. That’s all he needs to be. He’s more than proved his trustworthiness, shown that he should be given the same sort of respect that Marinette gets.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Princess Justice is not so easily reasoned with.

She represents a specific character in saltfics, the most important one by design - the one the world’s warped around.

Saltinette.

It’s pretty apparent in her accusations against the heroes, in the accusations against others more generally.

> "What of Papillon's Judgment!" Maneki-neko demanded as they sped towards the Seine. She held tight to the struggling villain as she attempted to get through to Marinette. "Will you absolve him of his crimes against Paris! Against your friends!"
> 
> "What friends!?" Princess Justice roared. She opened her bag and spun. The dust engulfed them, entering Kagami's eyes and distracting her long enough for the villain to break free.
> 
> Princess Justice struck at the hero, Maneki-neko barely deflecting her attacks. Every sentence punctuated by the crack of her whip. "They abandoned me! They chose that liar over me! They will all suffer like I have! They will all feel my pain! Every! Last! ONE!" (Chapter 5)

Saltfics frequently exaggerate the “sins” of Marinette’s friends and family, from merely having some doubt in her (based on both accusations and actual evidence, albeit planted evidence) into actively shunning her - something that doesn’t happen in the show for more than a few minutes at best, and which Alya doesn’t even entertain.

But the part that’s most telling? Her desire to inflict pain on them in return. Not merely to persuade them that Lila’s wrong, but to actively want them to suffer for the impertinence of being conned.

The revenge plot is a staple of saltfics, often focusing on punishing the people Lila fooled even above punishing Lila. On inflicting pain on the people who “failed” Marinette when they should have believed her and followed what she said unquestioningly, no matter what evidence or accusations were thrown her way, without a hint of doubt or consideration for Lila’s words.

Marinette notably does NOT do this. Even in Silencer she wants justice because of Bob stealing her design and Kitty Section’s music, but emphatically does NOT pursue revenge, trying to get Silencer to back down because anything he did to Bob WOULD be vengeance, not justice. She even tells Chat as much when he suggests letting Silencer MAKE Bob confess the truth.

If she isn’t willing to let that happen to Bob, someone who did indeed knowingly wrong her and her friends without remorse, she CERTAINLY wouldn’t want to inflict vengeance on people whose main crime was being tricked, something that Mister Bug calls Princess Justice out on.

> "You've always been forgiving!" Mister Bug reminded her desperately. "Always the one to point out what's unjust! You said that we should strive for Justice not Revenge! This! All of this! Is Revenge!" (Chapter 5)

  
  


Of course, she isn’t exactly in a headspace where she’s able to listen to him. 

Instead she fights him, accusing him of common salt complaints against him.

> "Chat Noir!" She slammed them into the side of a building, gratified to hear his cries. "You are accused!"
> 
> Adrien felt his heart pounding in fear. He knew what the verdict would be.
> 
> "Accused of being Unworthy!"
> 
> "Plagg disagrees." The throbbing impact of the bench on his head hurt less than the impact of her words on his heart. (Chapter 5)

Adrien frequently has the Black Cat Miraculous taken from him in saltfics for one reason or another, declared unworthy of possessing it. Canonically of course none of the heroes would even consider that (except Adrien himself, funnily enough), and the one whose opinion on his “worthiness” matters most - Plagg - has declared Adrien to be the best Chat Noir he ever had, both thinking he’s a good hero AND also caring about him deeply, helping to cheer him up whenever Adrien’s hurt.

> "Accused of holding Ladybug back!" She ground him on the underside of a bridge as they flew past.
> 
> His chest tightened and he forced air into his lungs. The friction of stones on his back burned less than her barbs. "First I've heard of it." (Chapter 5)

Chat Noir’s also accused of being useless a lot, of Ladybug being better off without him. Something that has been shown to not be the case time and time again. Furthermore she’d never WANT to be without him - that was shown in the NY special. That she didn’t know she could even fight without him by her side.

> "Accused of treating the lives of Paris like some game!"
> 
> His eyes widened. "Never!" (Chapter 5)

This salt mostly stems from Syren, though it crops up more generally with Chat Noir cracking jokes during akuma battles. But while he jokes or gets upset, it never distracts him from fighting the akuma for long, if at all. Plus, it’s a way of coping with the situation. Getting too bogged down and not having any fun along the way can lead to MORE mistakes, as Gamer 2.0 demonstrated.

> "Accused of getting in her way! Of always expecting her to save you without regard for how getting brainwashed affects her!" She ricocheted between two trees before she had to evade his companions.
> 
> "I was protecting you!" He jerked them away from the lamppost she was about to crush his back against. "You think I want to fight you!? I hate being brainwashed! I'm terrified of it!" (Chapter 5)
> 
> Yep, this is, for some reason, an actual salt accusation towards Chat to show how he’s a horrible person: that he gets hurt and brainwashed for her sake too often and doesn’t think about how she feels about needing to save him, making him a horrible person.
> 
> "I had to ask you to help me before you did anything!" Princess Justice launched herself at him with a kick.
> 
> "... What?" Mister Bug was snapped out of his thoughts by her words. He grabbed her foot and used her momentum to spin her away, head over heel.
> 
> She righted herself, the butterfly mark flaring back up, and charged again. "Right before Damocles expelled me, you said nothing until I asked you to!"
> 
> He used his forearms to block her strikes as a familiar rage started burning through his veins. "You're... angry because I helped you? When you asked for it!?" He ducked under her blow and brought his fist into an uppercut.
> 
> "I shouldn't have to ask!" She barely twisted out of the way in time as she failed in her attempt to knee him in the face. "You are Unworthy!" Princess Justice accused. (Chapter 9)

Yep, this is an actual accusation that’s thrown at Adrien for the events of “Ladybug”; that after Marinette opens the locker and Lila’s necklace falls out, he processes for a few seconds and intervenes once Marinette asks him for help. It takes 15 seconds from the time Lila picks the necklace up to Adrien intervening (with most of that time taken up by Marinette talking), but a quarter of a minute is an unforgivable delay for salters.

As for not helping until she asked for it (though Adrien didn’t have much of a window in which to intervene before she requested assistance)... that’s not always a bad thing. It’s not what MARINETTE does, but that doesn’t always work out. Often it IS a good idea to wait until someone gives an indication that they want the help before intervening, because that intervention may end up only making things worse. Adrien knows that well enough when it comes to his father - Nino wasn’t able to persuade him to allow Adrien to have a birthday party, and was subsequently barred from the house as a “bad influence”. Worse may have happened if he pushed further, ESPECIALLY to Adrien, whom Gabriel has authority to punish.

Adrien can only take so much of this, so much of being slandered, of having every potential fault magnified a thousandfold while his own feelings and views of the situations are completely disregarded before he SNAPS.

> "I was betrayed!" She swung a right hook at him. "My whole world crashed down around me!" And a left. "Who are you to Judge me, oh Chat Blanc!" The villain sneered.
> 
> And Mister Bug's control snapped.
> 
> "So sorry grieving over my **dead** **mother** isn't **good enough** to get **AKUMATIZED OVER!"** (Chapter 9)

Marinette has issues that she’s dealing with, emotional turmoil that she’s going through. But so do others, ESPECIALLY Adrien. She’s not the only one whose feelings matter.

> “I forgot! Marinette is the only one whose burdens count!" He stopped suddenly and yanked on his yo-yo.
> 
> "What would **you** know about it!?" She copied him and jerked her whip towards her, the tangled cords beginning to pull free.
> 
> "They kept **touching ME!"** His disgust and shame roared through him and their weapons separated with a snap.
> 
> "Then you should have said something instead of letting them walk all **over you!"** She lashed out with her whip, intending to put an end to this. (Chapter 9)

Adrien’s sneered at for being a spineless doormat, for “letting” people touch him when he’s very clearly trying to get away without just outright telling them to back off. It is something that he needs to work on, but it’s certainly not something to BLAME him for. Especially since it’s doubtful that making a fuss about that sort of thing would’ve been well-received in most of his life. His father would be unlikely to take it well if he objected to a photoshoot on those grounds, for instance.

But he’s not the only one who needs to learn when to confess that something bad has happened to them. 

> "You're one to talk!" He deflected every strike with his yo-yo, mirrored her every move.
> 
> "You're the one who told me not to **SAY anything!"** Her whip came a hairsbreadth from his ear.
> 
> "You never said she threatened you!" His yo-yo barely grazed her bag.
> 
> "What difference does **it make!?"** She charged at him.
> 
> "It makes **all** the difference!" He rose to meet her. (Chapter 9)

This is a key point of contention in a lot of the Chameleon salt that’s directed at Adrien. Often he’s blamed for his advice to Marinette not to continue going after Lila, that it won’t help anything. That so long as he and Marinette knew she was lying, it didn’t really matter.

But that advice was based on the premise that Lila wasn’t an active threat, a danger. That it was merely galling to see her lying, but that she wasn’t causing any active harm by doing so. And while it was theorized that her lies about her status may lead to her making false promises to people, causing them to forgo real opportunities in pursuit of a lie, by the end of season 3 that does not appear to be the case.

Her actively threatening Marinette changes things. If she didn’t pose an actual danger, then it would be irritating to have to listen to her lie, but it doesn’t actually change anything. But with her desire to isolate Marinette? That’s different. Just leaving her be under those circumstances leaves Marinette in peril.

But Adrien DID NOT KNOW ABOUT THAT, and that is not his fault. He could only make decisions and recommendations off of information he possesses. He is not to blame for not being psychic.

Marinette would NOT blame Adrien for these things. Would not try to inflict pain on her friends.

Princess Justice is not Marinette.

Saltinette is not Marinette.

Something that Adrien realizes.

> Adrien looked at Princess Justice. Really looked at her. The sneer of her lips, the sadistic gleam in her eyes, the ferocity of her advance. This... This was not Marinette.
> 
> The anger made way as Adrien's determination and love rose to merge with it. He broke through her assault and zipped away. The villain giving chase.
> 
> Princess Justice was all pain and rage and desire.
> 
> The villains on the ground took notice of their approach.
> 
> But Marinette was not defined by these things.
> 
> Glaciator fired a barrage of ice cream as he moved too close.
> 
> Marinette was joy and compassion and longing.(Chapter 9)

Marinette can have negative emotions and make bad decisions like anyone else. But fundamentally she is kind and caring, brings light to those around her, makes their lives better. She doesn’t try to make them miserable and beat every ounce of happiness out of their existence. She values people besides herself, besides what they can do for her, and cares about what they think and feel. 

And SHE truly cares about justice.

Princess Justice does not deserve the name. Although she declares herself just, serves as judge, jury, and executioner, she does not keep herself to the standard she holds others too. 

> Kagami's tail stiffened. "Liar!" Maneki-neko let the villain's whip wrap around her staff and yanked her in. "You're a liar!" Her fist connected with the akumatized supervillain.
> 
> Throwing her own punch Princess Justice's eyes narrowed. "Justice doesn't lie!"
> 
> Stumbling back, Maneki-neko threw herself forward. "You're not Justice!" She tackled the villain, and they went over the edge of the roof. "You're immune to your own dust! You've been lying since the beginning!" (Chapter 12)

It’s poetic really. For the representation of Saltinette to be an evilized Marinette, one who rains down judgement on others but protects herself from being judged similarly, not even realizing that she’s doing it. Saltinette isn’t Marinette. She’s a twisted version, bereft of reason and her best qualities. 

If Saltinette was judging herself the way she judges everyone else? She would be even more furious at Marinette for not doing more to take Lila down, since she knows she’s an active threat and is well-positioned to let people know that she’s lying about being her friend, than she is at Adrien. There would probably be a host of other things she’d judge herself for as well, but what exactly would depend on what space Saltinette occupied in that dynamic. For the only thing that matters to Saltinette is whether something or someone benefits her or whether they cause her any difficulty, nothing else.

> Indignation. Princess Justice whirled to face him as her blue eyes narrowed. "You'd turn against me, too? Just like everyone else!? You all turned against me!"
> 
> Righteous Fury rumbled in displeasure at its master's agitation, exoskeleton glowing faintly under their feet.
> 
> "Disagreeing with you doesn't mean I've turned against you, my Lady," Adrien reasoned. (Chapter 13)

This is key. It’s possible to have fics, to have circumstances where Marinette conflicts with Adrien, Alya, or many others, without anyone being treated as being a horrible person. Sometimes people just disagree, sometimes for good reasons, due to perspective, mindset, or differences in knowledge, for instance. It doesn’t always mean they’ve turned against the other person.

> Approaching cautiously, Roi Bug kept a hand close to his yo-yo in case she tried to attack him in earnest. "Revenge isn't Justice. You know that. Remember?"
> 
> "... I do." She looked down as another building was hit. "I remember letting the Guilty hurt the Innocent! Letting people who have never shown an ounce of remorse get away scot-free! Showing mercy to people who don't deserve it! Who haven't earned it!" Her gaze turned to him with frustration and anger in her eyes. "That is what I remember!"
> 
> He let her rage wash past him. "Mercy is never earned. That's why it's Mercy. Because you don't deserve it. Forgiveness-"
> 
> Princess Justice laughed. "Oh, forgiveness! You're really good at that, aren't you? But I'm done forgiving! From now on everyone gets exactly. What. They. **Deserve!"**
> 
> Temper flaring, Adrien shot his hand out toward a girl barely younger than them as she floated past. Face frozen mid-scream. Dark glow proclaiming: Self-righteous. "Is this what they deserve!?"
> 
> No, yes, no, yes, no- "Silence!" Princess Justice's whip flew at him again. This time Roi Bug whirled his yo-yo as a shield to deflect it. (Chapter 13)

Forgiveness and mercy can go too far. That is true. But there’s a reason they exist, why they’re generally considered good. Punishment can go too far, can cause more harm than good, especially when taken to insane extremes for minor slights, as Princess Justice and Saltinette do. A LOT of Disproportionate Retribution gets thrown around.

And if merely causing someone some strife was worthy of insane punishment? Few people would pass. Marinette among them.

> "I've never harmed an Innocent person in my life!" She slashed her whip in a wide arc.
> 
> Bringing out the Monkey's staff and the baseball bat Lucky Charm, he used both weapons to deflect her attack. "Of course, you have! You're human aren't you!?"
> 
> "They were all Guilty!" She insisted, agitation causing the sentimonster to rumble as she struck. "They all deserved it!" 
> 
> Adrien's eyes narrowed. "Did Luka 'deserve' it?"
> 
> Flinching, her whip missed its target.
> 
> "Or Kagami?" He pressed. "Did she 'deserve' the way you treated her?"
> 
> Regret, determination, shame.
> 
> "She should know what she's done to you," he whispered.
> 
> "... She does."
> 
> "No- I- Quiet! Be quiet!" She held her head between her hands as a drum pounded in her skull. "Justice! I am Justice!" (Chapter 13)

Marinette’s inflicted pain on others who have not done something to earn it, Kagami being one of the chief examples, what with her actions towards her in Animaestro and Ikari Gozen. But while what Marinette did those times were WRONG, they do not define her as a person, and do not justify an insane level of disproportionate retribution against her, do not justify writing Marinette off as a human being. 

That same courtesy should apply to others as well.

Marinette is different from Princess Justice, from Saltinette, something she aptly demonstrates when she talks to Adrien after being deakumatized.

> I-I said some... terrible things to you and I..." Marinette curled her arms around herself. "I didn't mean it." (Chapter 14)

Marinette also fights back against the accusations Princess Justice made, things that Marinette didn’t mean, does not believe, and would never say if she’d been herself.

> "You saved me countless times!" His eyes watered as her's did the same. "You saved Paris countless times!" Yellow smoke intruded into his thoughts, helpless to stop the cycle no matter how many Second Chances he got. "It-" Shame choked his throat and he swallowed it back, averting his eyes. "It's about time I started pulling my weight..."
> 
> Frowning, Marinette placed her hands over his. "Who... said you weren't pulling your weight?" His silence was answer enough and the guilt cut at her.
> 
> Piecing Adrien and Chat Noir together was surprisingly easy when she let herself consider it. Virtues and flaws that made a terrible sort of sense together. Once Marinette understood that he felt just as alone as she did. And Princess Justice threw it all in his face.
> 
> "Well, she was wrong!" Marinette snapped. Gripping Adrien's hands firmly as they trembled. (Chapter 14)

Marinette would never say that Chat wasn’t pulling his weight, that he wasn’t good enough. Wouldn’t believe it and would fight back against anyone who hurt her partner that way. She reassures him that he is enough, that he did well, even while he assures her that he doesn’t blame her for what happened and nor would anyone else. That she’s human, and having a moment of emotional weakness, of distress, does not make her bad or unworthy or irresponsible. 

Both of them reassuring each other that they don’t need to be perfect. That they are enough. To be kind and forgiving towards themselves.


	3. Luka

I was really surprised when I reread Scarlet Fever and realized that Luka actually has a pretty compelling character arc playing out in the background - or at least the potential for one, though it’s hindered by only having snippets of his POV, which limits how much the reader can get in his head and see exactly how his thoughts and opinions change with the events of the book.

First of all, having him fall victim to the dust was a genius move. (The dust in general was, really). One of the issues with Luka canonically is how little he expresses negative emotions, even when it would make sense to feel upset, sad, or angry. By coating him with Princess Justice’s dust Loganlight gave an excuse for why Luka would show more emotion, be more free with what he really thought without negating his prior characterization in canon.

He starts out shocked and upset that Marinette of all people got akumatized, wanting desperately to know what could have gotten her so upset that she couldn’t fend off an akuma.

> "He didn't tell me," Luka corrected, staring with watery eyes at the Guardian. "Marinette did. I don't know who you are but apparently you're in charge. So, tell me what happened that would make Marinette of all people fall victim to Papillon's akuma!" He barely restrained himself from shouting. (Chapter 6)

Adrien volunteers the reason, at least as he sees it.

> "I thought if she didn't antagonize Lila she'd be fine. Th-that Marinette would be safe. I-I thought... that if you didn't draw attention to yourself... They wouldn't- They wouldn't-" He couldn't say anything he didn't think was true. It bubbled up from where he'd pushed it down. "They wouldn't hurt you!" he finished in a rush. "I thought Lila was like Father... If I don't disappoint him... he doesn't punish me... If Marinette didn't... I thought she'd be safe. I thought Marinette would be safe. I d-didn't want Lila to come after Marinette if she was akumatized. I... I told h-her not to s-say anything..." (Chapter 6)

Adrien’s actions make a lot of sense, considering the angle he’s approaching from ,especially since he didn’t know that Lila had threatened Marinette before this. But he still feels absolutely TERRIBLE about what happened, since well… Marinette ended up getting hurt.

Luka’s furious and actually makes to punch Adrien, though others do intervene and he thinks better of it. 

Here, he thinks the worst of Adrien that he ever has. He liked Adrien before, even thought of him as a friend (albeit not a particularly close one), but now? Right now he’s thinking of him as being a coward who through his actions got Marinette hurt.

Which is an understandable perspective, but not really a fair one. Especially since Adrien explained why he did what he did. But while Luka has been told why Adrien gave the advice he did, he doesn’t truly UNDERSTAND it - not yet.

The conversation he has with Kagami after Adrien leaves the room is particularly important, as it’s the start of his change in perspective.

> Luka kept silent as Kagami kept her back to him. He needed to control himself but his rage flared up and... "I thought Marinette was your friend?"
> 
> "She is," Kagami confirmed. She felt her emotions surge forth despite her efforts and wondered if this was another effect of the dust. "So is Adrien."
> 
> "He hurt her!" Luka snapped.
> 
> "No, Lila did," Kagami corrected.
> 
> "How can you defend him?" He asked.
> 
> "How can you condemn him?" She countered.
> 
> "Just because he didn't have the guts to talk back to his old man-"
> 
> "I envy the people who have never been afraid of disagreeing with their parent."
> 
> "Everyone fights."
> 
> "Yes." Kagami hissed. "But not everyone is afraid of being placed under house arrest for voicing the wrong opinion. Not everyone worries the next less-than-perfect grade will result in their limited freedom being restricted! Not everyone needs an appointment to have a conversation with their own-" She cut herself off and took deep breaths to calm herself. (Chapter 6)

Luka’s still thinking of this as if HE was in the position Adrien was. If he told Anarka off, it’s doubtful that anything bad would happen to either himself or anyone he cared about as a consequence. If Luka’d been the one giving that advice, his reasoning would had to have been different because he doesn’t have to fear punishment the way Adrien does, and in his mind standing up to a parent, fighting with a parent, isn’t that big a deal, because for Luka it isn’t.

But Kagami takes the first step in breaking him out of that perspective, in opening his eyes to the fact that a lot of people, including herself and Adrien, don’t have such understanding parents, to check his privilege in that regard. 

When Luka and Adrien meet up after they’ve both had chances to calm down, Luka’s still upset, but he’s calmer.

> Adrien cleared his throat. "I... When Lila came back to school. I asked her to stop lying. She was akumatized immediately and the first thing she did was go after me. I didn't want the same thing to happen to Marinette... That's why I told her not to say anything." He turned his gaze to Sabine. "I was trying... to protect her the best way I knew how."
> 
> "You still could've said something to your friends," Luka muttered before he could restrain himself.
> 
> "Yes, thank you, Luka. I hadn't thought of that. Not like I've been beating myself up about it or anything," he snapped. (Chapter 6)

Luka has a point. It IS possible that this might’ve been avoided if Adrien had quietly talked to his friends about the Lila situation. Though they might not have been persuaded then either, not without firmer evidence to support his conviction that Lila was out-and-out lying. And that was the only thing he knew she was doing wrong; just that she was being untruthful, not that she was doing anything particularly malicious (not that he could say without sounding like he was blaming someone for getting akumatized at any rate).

In any case, they bury the hatchet for now and concentrate on solving the problem at hand: restoring Marinette back to her old self.

Their plans are thrown for a loop though when Gorizilla attacks, leading to a similar situation as the first time he attacked, with Adrien falling to the ground, unable to transform for fear of his identity being outed.

> Adrien tumbled through the air, approaching the ground at breakneck speed. He resisted the urge to call for his transformation where the akumatized could see him. The unyielding concrete raced closer and-
> 
> A cyan blur caught Adrien before he hit the pavement. He quickly wrapped his arms around his rescuer. "... Please tell me you didn't use Second Chance?"
> 
> Viperion merely gripped him tighter.
> 
> Adrien swallowed. "Oh... I really hate dying."
> 
> Viperion landed on a rooftop and set Adrien down behind a chimney. "... Then why do you keep trading yourself for Ladybug?"
> 
> Adrien wasn't sure why the question irritated him so much. "I don't 'trade myself' for Ladybug. I 'trade myself' for Paris." (Chapter 7)

I really wish we had Luka’s perspective here, especially with him being the only person who experienced the earlier timeline before the Second Chance, the one where Adrien rammed into the sidewalk.

Luka’d just chastised him for supposedly being a coward, for not doing more for Marinette… and then almost immediately afterwards witnessed him die brutally in order to keep his secret, even though he had a chance to save himself, even though he was terrified. It serves as a stark reminder that NO, Adrien is definitely NOT a coward.

Side note: Luka really needs therapy after seeing that. That should really be mandatory for Snake users in general.

The bit about Adrien being annoyed with Luka saying he trades himself for Ladybug was a nice insight as well. Luka keeps on thinking of everything in terms of what Adrien can do for Marinette, for Ladybug - and to be fair Adrien DOES care about her a lot.

But he’s also a hero in his own right, and not everything he does is solely motivated by her. Nor does he only have value because of what he can do for Ladybug; as Chat Noir, one of his roles may be to protect her at all costs, but that doesn’t make him any less a Hero of Paris than Ladybug is.

I think this is another important perspective check for Luka. I mean, he asked Adrien why he keeps trading himself for Ladybug if he hates dying so much. It seems like he wasn’t really thinking about it in terms of it being a  _ necessary _ thing that Chat does, but was thinking of it as more as just a duty, one that he wouldn’t be troubled by nor that deserves a second thought.

Which isn’t too different from earlier, with how Luka was thinking almost entirely in terms of the ultimate outcome of Lila’s efforts against Marinette, blaming Adrien without really thinking about what HE was going through.

But after seeing Adrien plummet to the ground and die, after holding him in his arms and seeing and hearing how Adrien’s scared of the prospect yet will do so willingly anyway, Luka would recalibrate his worldview I think. 

Before he was just thinking of Adrien as existing for Marinette’s sake, was frustrated when he was afraid of putting himself in danger.

Now he seems to truly realize the kind of pain and suffering he goes through, puts himself through, and that it’s not something to just write off as Chat being a sacrifice, that… that he’s a person, a KID who’s scared and does it anyway.

That he needs to put himself in Adrien’s head more, to think about his emotional state, that he’s had it just as rough, even rougher, than Marinette has.

And then Luka finds out who Adrien’s father - the man he’d initially castigated Adrien for being afraid to go up against, who’d been the reason why Adrien thought it would be safer for Marinette to leave Lila alone rather than to go after her, because that’s how he’s survived living with his father - he finds out who he REALLY is.

That he’s more of a threat, a danger, than he’d ever imagined - that he was in fact the ultimate CAUSE of Marinette being akumatized, which was the event that caused him to be so pissed at Adrien in the first place.

Now Luka doesn’t actually get to react that much to the revelation - everyone else in the room, from Sabine to Nino to Kagami to Adrien, have closer ties to Adrien and more insight into just how horrible this revelation makes Gabriel, than he does.

But any conception that Adrien is in any way a coward or unreasonable for keeping his head down around his father? For fearing him, and carrying that fear, those survival mechanisms to other, at least vaguely similar situations? Would be gone now. It’s fortunate that Adrien’s managed as well as he has, with the situation he’s in.

And just to twist the screws, Viperion gets a taste of Princess Justice’s whip later on, forcing him to FEEL just what Adrien (along with many others) were feeling, as if he needed anything more to cement that Adrien’s feeling were valid, that they MATTERED.

> **Pain!**
> 
> So much pain Viperion fell to his knees.
> 
> Despair sapped the conviction from his heart. Jealousy clouded his reason. Shame burned him!
> 
> Luka curled into a ball.
> 
> Not  **good enough!** The emotions screeched.  **Never** good enough!
> 
> A torrent of confusion, heartbreak and longing came from Marinette. Concern for him, suffocating and pervasive, rose from Juleka and his maman. Disappointment and anger, Kagami's, cut like her blade. Self-deprecation, self-doubt, self-loathing roared over the others from Adrien.
> 
> How does he  **stand** it!?
> 
> Love and admiration and joy also surged forth with the waves of their feeling.
> 
> But they gave Luka no reprieve; merely added to the chaos of so many people weighing down on him.
> 
> Viperion clutched his head as the foreign sensations flooded him. (Chapter 11)

On top of feeling what Adrien’s going through, he later found out what had happened after he was incapacitated: that even though Adrien was struck with the whip too, even though Adrien’s got so much emotional baggage, so much trauma already - heck, maybe even BECAUSE he’s been through so much trauma that he’s used to it - Adrien STILL fights through it, defeating his father and saving his partner.

Luka ends up giving an acknowledgement of his misjudgement of Adrien in the understatement of the century:

> "... My bro's really good at seeing the best in other people." It's himself Adrien has trouble with. "But hey, if I have to remind him how awesome he is every now and then that's cool." Nino shrugged with his arms. Helping out his bro wasn't a big deal.
> 
> "He's... more complicated than I thought." Luka felt embarrassment color his cheeks. (Chapter 15)

More privately he admitted that how he’d acted with Adrien right after finding out about Marinette’s akumatization was wrong.

> Luka tried not to look at Marinette's hurt expression. Focusing instead on the approving look Kagami gave him... When did Kagami's opinion become important to him? Probably when she pointed out you were being a jerk. (Chapter 15)

I also appreciated a few smaller snippets of Luka’s character that slipped in, like Luka centering himself after he got upset with Adrien near the beginning, as if he’d had to do that many times before and was used to having to get himself under control (though usually doing that wasn’t so hard, since he wasn’t usually under the effects of an akuma), or in the last chapter, when he forces himself to think about what’s best for HIM, rather than what he thinks other people want - something that he’s evidently not used to.

> Luka bit his lip, fingers itching for strings to play. Did he want this? Helping out a few times was different than a full time commitment. He looked at Marinette. Even the best of them could be overwhelmed.
> 
> He shook his head, attempting to clear it. Marinette said they could think on it. Did he want to do this for himself or for Marinette? That's what he needed to know. "Let me get back to you."
> 
> Spotting Kagami's elbow coming for his ribs Luka moved out of range. "It's a lot to process! I, um, need to decide for me." (Chapter 15)

I’m wondering whether this plays into how he seemed to think of Adrien as just existing as Marinette’s support before, without considering Adrien’s own mindset or feelings, because that’s the role that Luka usually occupies - a mindset that Kagami’s trying to help him to break out of. 

Luka’s worldview seems to have expanded and turned on its head many times over the course of the story, and I just think it’s an impressive little character arc with a lot of potential, even with it being a fairly minor plotline running in the background.


End file.
